Underwater Filming Services

Here is how the work lines up. Underwater camera work in New York is concentrated around a unique mix of open-water and tank settings. Our ops are selected for confirmed experience in each. The Atlantic off Montauk, the Hamptons coast and Long Island Sound deliver clearer-water exterior days for commercial, story and brand work, while the Hudson River, East River and New York Harbor are handled on a water-quality-dependent basis with NYC DEP testing and US Coast Guard NY District planning booked in advance.

Here is the layout. The bulk of the cinematic underwater work in NYC happens in tank. Steiner Studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard has handled tank sequences for Severance, Mrs. Maisel, Stranger Things and the Apple TV+ slate, with extra tank ops booked through Silvercup in Long Island City and Kaufman Astoria in Queens, and pool-stage work routed through the specialty underwater facilities across the Tri-State area.

Here is how the work shapes up. Each op on our register holds PADI, SSI or NAUI dive certifications set for the depth and conditions of the brief, and the surface teams behind them are lined up with the US Coast Guard NY District, the NYPD Harbor Unit on Hudson River and East River work, and OSHA frameworks for any commercial diving on the brief.

Here is how it adds up. Housings are matched to the camera package agreed with the DP. ARRI Alexa Mini, RED Komodo and V-Raptor, Sony Venice and FX6, and Blackmagic systems all run often through our packages with Gates, SeaSeed and Hydroflex housings, calibrated dome ports, underwater monitors and dedicated LED and HMI lighting plans. Dive plans, risk assessments, safety-diver staffing, surface support and emergency protocols are logged in line with US Coast Guard rules and IATSE Local 600 cinematographers' safety standards before any actor enters the water.

Here is the run-down. Coordinators size the team to the brief, whether that is a single-day Steiner tank shoot or a multi-day Hamptons Atlantic documentary needing drift dives and rebreather safety, with the 30% NYS Film Tax Credit plus 10% NYC uplift logged from prep through wrap.